Fashion, beauty, and food unboxed and reviewed.

Gwynnie Bee Review

I recently signed up for my free one month trial of Gwynnie Bee and so far, it’s been a mixed bag. I was incredibly excited about the service but I’m still not sure about them in practice.

For those who haven’t seen one of the million reviews out of the Gwynnie Bee, you sign up for a plan (between 1 and 10 garments out at a time) and they ship you items from your “closet” (a list of items you choose) to wear for as long as you like. A lot of people have likened it to Netflix, but to me part Netflix, part subscription box, because you don’t have full control over what items come next. It’s sort of a guessing game because you have closet minimums and Gwynnie Bee can send ANY item from your “closet”, not the next ones in your “queue”.

Trouble in Paradise

My first hiccup with Gwynnie Bee came when I met my closet minimums for the 3 out at a time subscription but they had nothing that I wanted in the shipping center. I asked after several days of waiting and a customer service rep asked me to add a few more things since all of my items were also extremely popular with other members. I did so and the next Monday two of my three items shipped. I got another email from customer service asking me to add a few more things to my list and asking if I needed any help with suggestions. I replied that I’d love a few more suggestions and let them know what I was looking for but it’s been a full week and I haven’t heard back from them about any additional ideas for my closet. Luckily, the next day another item shipped out for me and Gwynnie Bee was nice enough to extend my free trial by one week to make up for the long wait.

The First Box

Gwynnie Bee shipments come in a super well sealed box and include the clothes along with care instructions, invite cards, and handwritten welcome notes. Pretty sweet! The clothes themselves are labelled clearly so you don’t accidentally wash a dry clean only item and so you can easily find the outfit again on their website.

When you’re done with an outfit, stick it in the postage paid bag or box included with your order and send it back. If you hit up their website and let them know when you shipped you item or items back, they’ll work on getting your next shipment out right away.

My Thoughts

So far I’ve really liked the clothes I’ve tried through Gwynnie Bee, and their customer service reps have been nice, if a little unresponsive at times. The clothes have been in excellent condition, which is imperative for what’s essentially a clothes sharing service. I’m not sure yet if I’ll keep up the service after my month is over. Shipping turnaround is slower than I expected, perhaps because I’m used to retail which often ships out new orders the same day.

Who Should Get It

I think if you’re a person who shops regularly, Gwynnie Bee could be AMAZING for you. The most expensive plan is $159 a month but with 10 items out at a time, you could practically guarantee yourself a constant rotating closet of like new clothes that you only had to keep until you got bored. No wearing items you’re not thrilled with but bought in the heat of a marathon shopping trip, no keeping things that don’t fit quite right anymore, no wishing you could grab something new but you don’t have time to get to the store this week.

On the other hand, if you’re on a shoestring budget, the smaller 1-2 items out at a time plans just don’t seem as cost effective. $35-59 is great for someone who buys clothes fairly regularly, but any savvy shopper knows that lots of great brands have clearance and outlet options in the same range and you never have to worry about going a week without the item you bought while you wait for your next shipment.

If you’d like to test if Gwynnie Bee is for you, click here for a free one month trial like mine. Full disclosure, if you sign up for a paid account after the free month, I’ll get a month free, but you’re welcome to cancel any time before the end of the free month.

Have you tried contacting them about the issue? I’ve never had an item not come from Gwynnie Bee in the seven months I’ve been a member. There have been some slow shipping times when items I wanted were already with other members, but I’ve never had them charge me without providing the service. I also haven’t heard any other complaints like yours from bloggers or friends and I’ve signed at least 9 people up because I love it so much. I would definitely reach out to customer service about the situation – maybe there’s a problem shipping to your address, maybe you don’t have enough items in your closet to send a shipment, maybe your first shipment was delivered to the wrong location by the USPS and that messed up your entire account. Look into it and let me know what happens.

I signed up for the free trial and am on my second item in 2 weeks (I signed up for one item out at a time). The shipping is slow, but for $35/mo and a new item every week, that’s not bad. My only complaint is there is no way to prioritize the closet so your favorites are at the top. IMO, that would be a good feature, so at least I feel like my prioritization will get me the item I really want to try more quickly. As it is now, it seems like I get the stuff that has low reviews and don’t really get an opportunity during my trial to try the stuff with great reviews. And if that is how it’s going to be even after I subscribe, then I don’t know if I will like it very much. How do they decide who gets the hot items? Is it first come first serve? Do they prioritize by subscription you have (pay more, get better service)?

As far as I know, it’s based on what is in at that moment in your size. I don’t know if there’s a particular order in which they prioritize things beyond that. I do know that if you call or email a stylist, they can put on file what your priorities are and focus on sending the first item on THAT list that’s available rather than anything in stock. That might be worth trying! :)

The concept of Gwynnie Bee is exciting, but the reality is not. The shipping is too slow. This is probably due to the fact that they seem to have a low amount of inventory. They have a “closet minimum” (minimum amount of items you have to have in your closet before they will ship anything to you), but even though I have always kept at or above that number of garments closeted, I quite often get a message saying that they cannot ship anything to me yet. They have extended my trial because of that, but honestly, it just gets old. It is annoying as a trial member and it would be just plain unacceptable as a paying member, so I am sure I will cancel after my trial has ended. I wanted so badly for this service to be good and work and I was willing to put it into my budget because it is fun to search through clothes and select fun stuff to wear. Problem with Gwynnie Bee: you won’t get to wear the stuff you like. Chances are if you like it, it may be a popular garment and others will like it too. So you likely won’t receive it. Oh and did I mention that there is no way to prioritize your closet? If your closet minimum is 8, you have a 1 in 8 chance of getting a particular garment. I was told by customer service that if you email them they will try to get a certain item to you (say if you have a special event to attend), but since they can’t seem to send me even any 1 random garment from the 9 that I have closeted, I doubt that would be successful. My advise, use them for the free month, cancel a day before your trial ends. Not worth my hard earned money.

I cannot say that much for the service but I signed up on Tuesday evening and got a shipping email on Wednesday and according to the tracking info my items are out for delivery so I am very pleased so far!